The Bivalent Trap: Vagueness, Theories of Meaning and Identity
José Pedro Correia
Abstract:
In this thesis we explore the implications of vagueness for theories
of meaning. We argue that vagueness in natural language presents a
serious challenge to the traditional conception of meaning as a
relation of determinate correspondence between signs and entities. The
way forward, we defend, is to view meaning as an emergent property of
a complex system. In search of approaches that allow for a formal grip
on meaning within this perspective, we turn to the framework of
signaling games. We demonstrate the advantages of the change in
paradigm by providing examples of how one can model vagueness and the
sorites paradox in a manner that allows us to study the phenomena
transparently, rather than obscuring them or explaining them
away. Finally, we illustrate the generality of the approach by
applying it to a related philosophical problem: identity and change.
Keywords: Logic; Language